Mail-crane.



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MAIL CRANE.' APPLICATION FILED .IAN.23. 19\I,9.

Patented Apr. 22,1919.

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EMMETT 1E. GIBSON, OF GABBETT, ALABA.

MAIL-CRANE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

lllatenoedV Apr. 22, New.

`Application led January 23, 1919. Serial No. 272,746.

device of this character which Aembodies.

novel features of construction whereby the mail sacks can be fastened in position upon the supporting arms while the latter are in a lowered position and parallel to the track, the arms being subsequently raised and swung into operative 'position after the mail bag has been properly adjusted thereon.

Further objects of the invention are to provide a device of this character which is comparatively simple and inexpensive in its construction, which can be readily installed between a pair of tracks and arranged to deliver a mail bag to each of two trains approaching from opposite directions, which provides for automatically lowering the supporting arms after-the mail sack has been delivered to the train, and which is thoroughly dependable in its operation.

With these and other objects in view, the invention consists in certain novel combinations and arrangements of the parts as will more fully appear as the description proceeds, the novel features thereof being pointed out in the appended claims.

For a full understanding of the invention,

reference is to be had to the following description and accompanying drawings', in which Figure 1 isV a side elevation of a mail crane constructed in accordance with the invention with portions broken away and shown in section, the position of the `supporting arms when in a raised position being indicated by full lines, while the position of the sleeve when in a lowered position is indicated by dotted lines.

Fig.` 2 is an enlarged detail view of the upper end 0f the tubular standard and the sleeve which is slidably mounted thereon and carries the mail bag supporting arms, portions being broken away and shown in section to illustrate more clearly the details of construction. j y

Fig. 3 is a detail view of one of the latch members for holding the sliding sleeve in an elevated position until after the mail bag has been delivered to the train.

Corresponding and like parts are referred. to in the following description and indicated in all the views of the drawings by the same reference characters.

Referring to the drawings, which illustrate one embodiment of the invention, the numeral '1 designates a standard which is adapted to be suitably arranged at oneside of a single railroad track or between two railroad tracks, thelower end of the standard being suitably secured as by means of the threads 2 to a substantially conical base member 3. This base may be mounted upon a foundation a of concrete or other suitable material, being shown as secured to the foundation by suitable bolts 5. A sleeve 6 is slidable upon theeXterior of the tubular standard and carries two sets of oppositely projecting arms, either or both sets of the arms being adapted to support a mail bag B. After the mail bags lhave been properly ad justed upon the arms the sleeve 6 is raised upon the standard to elevate the mail bags and swing one or both of them into operative position, and as soon as the bags have been delivered to the trains thesleeve is automatically released and permitted to drop to its original position. A cushioning spring 7 surrounds the standard l at the lower end thereof and serves to absorb shocks and jars when the sleeve 6 reaches the lower limit of itsniovement after being released and permitted to slide downwardly upon the standard.

A cross bar 8 extends transversely through the standard l, and the ends of this cross bar form lugs which project outwardly from the sides of the standard, said lugs being ada-pt ed to cooperate with grooves 9 in the interior of the sleeve 6 to rotate the sleeve as it is moved up and down. These grooves 9 extend longitudinally of the sleeve and each has a quarter-turn so that the sleeve and mail bag supporting arm supported thereby will be given a quarter revolution about the standard as an axis as the sleeve is raised or lowered. The arrangement of the grooves is such that the mail bag supporting arms eX- tend parallel to the railroad track when the sleeve is lowered, although they `project toward the track when the sleeve is raised. The cross bar 8 is positioned at such a height upon the standard l that when the sleeve 6 reaches the upper limit'of its movement the ends of the cross bar project into a flared recess 10 at the bottom of the sleeve. The sleeve is thus free to be rotated upon the standard when it is at the upper limit of its movement, although at all other positions of the sleeve the rotation thereof is governed by the cross bar 8 and cam slots 9.

The upper set of mail bag supporting arms 11,is secured to the upper end of the sleeve 6, the extremities of the arms termi-- nating in conventional spring jaws12 which releasably engage the rings 13 at the ends of the mail sack. The lower set of mail bag supporting arms 14 are hingedly mounted upon the outer ends of lateral brackets 16 which project from the lower end of the sleeve 6. The extremities of the brackets 16 are bifurcated at 16a and provided with transverse pivot pins 16" upon which coil springs 15 are mounted, the two ends of the coil spring being extended at. right angles to each other and one end 15a thereof being rigidly secured to the arm 14, while the other end 15b is connected by a link 18 to a latch member 20 which serves to lock the sleeve 6 in a raised position. These lower arms 14 are shorter than the upper arms 11, the combined length of each lower arm 14 and lateral bracket 16 upon which it is mounted being equal to the length of the corresponding upper arm 11. The free end of each of the lower arms 14 is also provided with a spring finger 12 for engagement with the lower ring 13 of the mail bag B. Each of the spring latches 20 is slidably mounted within a tubular guide casing 21 projecting laterally from the sleeve 6, and is provided with a spring 23 which normally tends to force the latch member inwardly into operative position. This spring 23 is shownas interposed between the enlarged nose of the latch memberand a. cap 22 which is removafbly threaded upon the end of the guide casing 21, this construction enabling the latch member to be readily removed, or the spring 23 to be replaced at any time. When the sleeve 6 is raised upon the standard 1 to elevate the mail sacks, the latches 21 alitomatically enter an annular groove 32 in the standard 1 as soon as the sleeve reaches the upper limit of its movement, thereby locking the sleeve in an elevated position as long as one or both of the-mail sacks are supported thereby, although not interfering in any manner with the rotation of the sleeve upon the standard.

A cap 2dis fitted upon the upper eXtremity of the standard 1, and a pulley 25 is rotatably mounted upon this cap. The base of the pulley is shown as provided with a circular plate 26 which rests upon antifriction bearings' 27 and is rotatably supported within a flanged guide ring 2S. The pulley is thus supported in such a manner that it is free to turn about the axis of the longitudinal grooves 9 on the interior of the sleeve, it will be obvious that the sleeve 6 will be rotated a quarter-revolution as itis raised or lowered, and the positioning of the grooves is such that when the'sleeve is elevated the mail bag supporting` arms are swung into positions at right angles to the railroad tracks, while when the sleeve 6 is lowered said arms are swung into a position parallel to the railroad tracks.

Vhen the sleeve 6 is lowered oney or two mail bags B are applied to the arms, as may be desired. The lower arms 14 are provided with weights 33 which normally tend to swing them downwardly into a vertical position, and the crank arms 15b of the springs 15 then pull upon the rods 13 to retract the latch members 20 and hold the same in inoperative position. However, when the lower arms 1i are swung upwardly into a substantially horizontal position for engagement with the mail bags, the spring latches 2O are released and forced into a yieldable engagement with the standard 1 by the combined action of the springs 23 and 15. After one or two mail bags-have been positioned upon the supporting arms, the sleeve 6 is raised into operative position by pulling upon the cable 29. As soon as the sleeve reaches the upper limit of its movement, one or both of the latch members 20 spring into engagement with the annular groove 32 in the standard, depending upon whether or notjtwo mail sacks have been positioned upon thearms- If there are two .mail bags, botliof the latch members 20 swing into operative position, while if there is only one mail bag, the latch member on the other side of the sleeve will be maintained in inoperative position by the action of the weight 3-3 in swinging the other arm 11 downwardly.

It frequently happens that two trains are expected at about the same time upon the same track. In this case both of the mail sacks are mounted upon the mail crane, and the particular mail sack intended for the train which is expected first isoperatively positioned toward the track. However, should the other train be the first to. arrive, the operator has merely to rotate the sleeve 6 and mail bags upon the standard 1 :and bring the other mail bag into position. This can be very quickly done without loss of time, and the device will be found very valuable for operating under vsuch conditions.

The mail sacks will be caught by the usual F to the train the lower arm 14 will be swung downwardly by the action of the weight 33 thereon. This will result in retracting and releasing the latch member 20, whereupon the sleeve 6 will drop into a lowered position by the action orn gravity, unless there is another mail sack supported by the other set of arms, in which event the sleeve will remain in an elevated position until the other mail sack has been delivered to the other train and the other latch member released.

The rotary motion of the sleeve 6 on the standard serves to swing the mail 1loag supporting arms laterally toward the track when they are raised and into a position parallel to the track when lowered, and with this crane two mail bags can be supported in such a position that either of them can be quickly swung into position to be caught by a train approaching in either direction.

A depressed seat 522L may be formed in the base of the groove 32 for engagement with one of the locking bolts 20 to prevent the sleeve 6 and mail bag supported thereon from being accidentally turned or rotated by the wind or the like. However, the sleeve can be forcibly rotated when this is necessary or the purpose of reversing the position of two bags, in the manner which has just been described.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

l. A mail crane including an upright standard, a sleeve slidable thereon, upper and lower mail bag supporting arms projecting from the sleeve, the lower'arm being pivotally mounted, a weight on the lower arm for swinging it downwardly when the mail bag is removed, a latch for locking the sleeve in a raised position, and an operative connection between the latch and the lower arm for releasing the latch when the lower arm drops downwardly under the action of the weight.

2. A mail crane including an upright standard, a sleeve slidable thereon, upper and lower mail bag supporting arms carried by the sleeve, the lower arm being pivotally mounted, a weight applied to the lower arm for swinging it downwardly when the mail bag is removed, a spring latch for locking the sleeve in a raised position, a crank arm at the pivot end of the lower arm, and an operative connection between the crank arm and the spring latch for releasing the latter when the arm is swung downwardly under the action of the weight.

3. A mail crane including an upright standard having a recess therein, a sleeve slidable upon the standard, a spring plunger mounted upon the sleeve and adapted to engage the recess o't the standard to lock the sleeve in a raised position, upper and lower mail bag supporting arms projecting from the sleeve, the lower arm being pivotally mounted, a weight applied to the lower arm to swing it downwardly when the mail bag is removed, a resilient crank arm at the pivot end of the lower arm, and a rod con necting the crank arm and plunger to release the plunger when the arm is swung downwardly under the action of the weight.

4. A mail crane including an upright standard, a sleeve slidable thereon, latch means for locking the sleeve in a raised position, said sleeve dropping by gravity when released, means for rotating the sleeve upon the standard as it moves longitudinally thereon, upper and lower mail bag supporting arms projecting from the sleeve, one of the arms being pivotally mounted, means for swinging the said arm when the mail bag is removed, and an operative connection between the said arm and the latch member for releasing the latter.

5. A mail crane including an upright standard, a sleeve slidable upon the standard and formed with a longitudinally extending spiral slot opening through the lower end of the sleeve, a lug projecting from the standard and adapted to coperate with the slot to rotate the sleeve as it is raised and lowered, the lug being arranged to be cleared by the sleeve when the latter reaches the upper limit of its movement, a latch upon thesleeve, the standard being formed with an annular groove adapted to receive the latch when the sleeve reaches the upper limit of its movement, mail bag supporting means carried by the sleeve, and means for automatically releasing the latch when the mail bag is removed.

6. A mail crane including an upright standard, a sleeve slidable thereon, upper and lower mail bag supporting arms projecting from the sleeve, a coil spring having the ends thereof extended at angles to each other and one end thereof secured to one of the mail bag supporting arms, a bracket pivotally supporting the coil spring, a latch for locking the sleeve in a raised position, and an operative connection between the latch and the other arm of the coil spring.

In testimony whereof I have signed my naine to this specilication in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

EMMETT E. GIBSON.

Witnesses j H. W. RANEY,

M. R. GIBSON.

Copies o' this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Gommlesioner of Patents,

Washington, D. lg. 

